Voltage regulator circuits are widely used to provide a reliably controlled supply voltage for other circuits, such as in portable devices. A reference voltage generator circuit may generate a reference voltage from a supply voltage. A control circuit may compare the reference voltage to an output voltage and responsively adjust the output voltage, such as via a pass device such as a transistor. The output voltage may match or otherwise closely depend on the reference voltage, depending on the implementation, and may be quite different from the supply voltage. The pass device may be required to sustain a significant voltage drop while providing a significant output current. Such a voltage drop can lead to significant power dissipation by a pass device in the voltage regulator circuit, and corresponding self-heating consequences. Full integration of all the components of a voltage regulator circuit onto a single integrated circuit die therefore places interrelated constraints on maximum power dissipation, maximum ambient temperature, and maximum pass transistor operating temperature. Conventional layout approaches do not fully consider the thermal issues of a design.